COLUMBIA, S.C. (January 24, 2007) - The ETSU women's tennis team fell to the No. 38 South Carolina Gamecocks today, 6-1 at the USC Field House in Columbia. ETSU falls to 2-3 on the year while South Carolina improves to 1-0.

The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as they took the doubles point. Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) fell to the duo of Christyn Lucas and Natasa Vuckovic in the No. 3 position, 8-0 , while Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) and Tara Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) fell to Laura Ganzer and Megan McGavock, 8-3 in the No. 2 position. The Lady Bucs picked up a win in the No. 1 position as Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) defeated Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori, 8-6.

"I really thought that this was a match we could win. The girls really played well and Yevgeniya, Tara and Elena almost took their matches to the third set. I think that some of the girls got kind of cold because there were only four courts," said head coach Steve Brooks. "Overall I thought they played really well and I was proud of their effort today."

The Lady Bucs will continue their road-swing as they travel to Williamsburg, Va. to take on the William and Mary Tribe. Follow all ETSU women's tennis action at www.etsubucs.com.